The Tea Party movement in the USA it has been amazingly influential while being slightly undefined and amorphous......... It's a sort of back to basics right wing campaign against big government........ Against what is perceived as marxism in the White House......... but also importantly against moderates in the Republican Party......... in a way its success to date has been measured by the deselection of moderate Republicans........ John McCain himself was under threat of losing his Republican candidate status to a Tea Party candidate attempting to deselect him from his Republican ticket for his Senate seat........ Even though he of course had previously been the Republican Presidential Candidate...........

But the Tea Party it is a peculiar alliance of right wing groups and individuals without a closely defined manifesto......... consequently it is sort of all encompassing......... multi faced operation........

I went to a Tea Party Event on Saturday just to witness something of this influential phenomena .......... At Pine Log Park in Conyers Georgia......... It was small like a church picnic or a scouting event......... under a sort of camping structure like a church with no walls........ It had evangelical sounding speakers from the Libertarian Party and stalls interesting you in the right to bear arms...... or support properly right wing candidates against more liberal Republican encumbants...........

There really was a lot of emphasis on' the right to bear arms'........ Georgia Carry had a stand. They are an organization fighting for your right to bear arms in Georgia. In this image above you see John Bigham speaking about his organization "Restore the Constitution" all his supporters were armed some appeared to wear militia uniforms that reminded me of the AWB in South Africa........... I guess they might argue that they were just hunting clothes......... but I don't think they would....... and they certainly looked like Militia uniform to me........

I think this being an armed Tea Party is unusual......... one or two women were haraunging the armed guys about why they had to bring a pile of weapons.

I often try to get myself in a headspace that allows me to have some level of understanding about the peoples views that I am with........ just so that I can understand them and get on with them better I'm looking for a version of myself that fits ......... but these guys are not people I would necessarily have too much common ground with.......... Im European ...... I've never owned a gun in my life....... I don't want one......... and I guess I never will..........

But when talking to me one to one with one of these guys said to me he wanted to live life without permission......... without having to ask permission......... wooooow that resonated with me a lot......... I need to get permission to take my cameras everywhere these days ......... it bugs the hell out of me.......... permission to have a camera and make photographs in the Mall, at the airport, in a garage, at the bus station, in the park .......... why should I even have to ask.......... ? This is how they feel about their weapons........... I know..... they are two completely different things........ but that kick back against permission culture was slightly more than a tiny slither of common ground......... :-))